Books Preview

2005 Fall Arts Preview

September

Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman Capote (Knopf; $16) is the trade paper debut of this decades-encompassing collection of the famed gay author’s personal correspondence. An excellent way to immerse yourself in Capote’s outspoken and passionate voice before heading off to see the fall film, Capote, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Just call it literary double dipping.

Lipstick Jungle (Hyperion; $24.95) by Candace Bushnell. The creator of Sex and the City returns with a new novel that will satisfy her fans left craving more of the New York City, sexually liberated, Jimmy Choo milieu. A sample from the publisher: ”Bushnell once again delivers an addictive page-turner of sex and scandal that will keep readers enthralled and guessing to the very last page.” Either that, or she’s turning into Judith Krantz.

The City of Falling Angels (Penguin Press; $25.95) by John Berendt. The gay author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil returns with a tale of opera and Venice. Once again, Berendt finds himself in a society full of characters ready-made for a non-fiction portrayal that’s not just for opera queens.

Son of a Witch(HarperCollins; $26.95) by Gregory Maguire. After a series of fable confabulations, Maguire returns to the well that first made him famous, Wicked, which told the tale of Dorothy and Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch, Elphaba. The sequel begins 10 years after her death, as Liir — who may be her son — begins his own journey of discovery and danger in the fantastical Emerald land.

Anansi Boys (HarperCollins; $26.95) continues author Neil Gaiman’s fantastical blending of genres from fantasy to mystery to thriller to horror. A sequel of sorts to American Gods, his latest follows two half-brothers, sons of a modern incarnation of the trickster god Anansi. Modern myth in the making.

Brotherhood: Gay Life in College Fraternities (Alyson; $15.95) chronicles the individual stories of college men’s experiences as gay fraternity members. Editor Shane L. Windmeyer, who first broke through on the subject with Out on Fraternity Row, will appear at Lambda Rising, 1625 Connecticut Ave., NW, on Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.

October

Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star (Algonquin; $$24.95) is the actor’s own tale of how he became a packaged and sold creation of the Hollywood star system and a career that went from the box office classic Damn Yankees to the revitalizing camp of John Waters’ Polyester. Replete with tales of the sexual favors the young gay actor was expected to indulge, his public-eye persona with the leading ladies of the day, and his off-screen relationships men (including Anthony Perkins). Hunter will appear with John Waters on Oct. 19 at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW, at 7 p.m. (October)

Rainbow Road (Simon & Schuster; $16.95) is local writer and Lambda Literary Award winner Alex Sanchez’s final installment in a trilogy that follows teens Jason, Kyle and Nelson through their high school years and to their impending graduation. Author appearance by Sanchez at Lambda Rising, 1625 Connecticut Ave., NW, at 7 p.m., Nov. 11. (October)

Toy Styles, author of Rainbow Heart: You Have No Control Over What the Heart Decides, discusses her book at Lamba Rising, 1625 Connecticut Ave., NW, on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. Rainbow Heart tells the story of Evelyn, a D.C. woman torn between the man who cares for her and the woman who captures her heart.

Everyone Worth Knowing (Simon & Schuster; $23.95) by Lauren Wiesberger, who parlayed her time as an assistant to Vogue’s Anna Wintour into a roman a clef on the New York fashion mag industry with The Devil Wears Prada. For her sophomore effort, Weisberg goes after the PR industry. It sounds about as subtle as Lizzie Grubman driving in reverse. And if you still haven’t gotten over the loss of Sex and the City, you can always check out Kim Cattrall’s Sexual Intelligence. She was in Mannequin, you know.

Predator (Penguin; $26.95) is the latest in Patricia Cornwell’s thriller series featuring intrepid medical examiner Kay Scarpetta. With a huge lesbian following — and not a few gay men — Cornwall generally serves up the forensic-science goods in creepy, suspenseful ways. We’ll hazard a guess that it involves a serial killer. But don’t hold us to it!

Memories of My Melancholy Whores (Knopf; $20) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez follows a 90-year-old man on a journey through his memories of a lifetime of sexual adventures — all bought and paid for — occasioned by a year of pleasure with a young, virgin prostitute.

Joan Didion reads from her new memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking (Knopf; $23.95) at PEN/Faulkner at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St., SE, on Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.

Morris Kaplan, author of Sodom on the Thames: Sex, Love and Scandal in Wilde Times (Cornell University Press) appears at Lambda Rising, 1525 Connecticut Ave., NW, on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. to discuss his historical telling of three sexually-charged incidents that preceded the Victorian trials of Oscar Wilde: two cases of transvestites charged with sodomy, and a scandal involving teenage telegraph boys working as prostitutes servicing prominent older gentlemen.

November

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (Knopf; $25.95) finds Anne Rice leaving behind her Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair witches takes on a novel about the childhood of Jesus Christ. It’s not her first time around with Jesus, as readers of Memnoch the Devil would tell you, but it remains to be seen if her tale of Christ will compel without the power of Lestat.